Day 3 :: Kaohsiung (Dream Mall)

so on our third day here in taiwan (sunday) and our last day before class started, some of our taiwanese friends told us that a group wanted to head to the 'department store' and asked if we would like to come. wasn't sure exactly which department store but it sounded fun enough so we all agreed to meet at the four trees around 10:30 in the morning. come to find out we're going to one of the largest malls in the world (with the ferris wheel on top!). so we call the taxis and head out to the train station where we catch a lift to downtown kaohsiung. adam's girlfriend meets up with us along the way, too. so we reach our stop and leave the subway and take a bus from there... very complicated to get to the mall it seems, but we finally reach our destination: "Dream Mall" :)

the place is huge!! never have i seen so many stories for one mall! it was a little ridiculous. but as usually, everything in the place is ADORABLE, and we're all googoo eyed looking at EVERYTHING. we all felt really bad for our friends having to put up with us, but they seemed to think it was funny and enjoy themselves just the same.

we all definitely spent A LOT! well... at least in nt dollars... the person who spent the most still only spent about $125 or so... that was including lots of gifts for people, some clothes, and two pairs of shoes! we had enough points from our total spending to get two free watches!! which we gave to our friends for so graciously putting up with our shopping. not everything is inexpensive though... name brands can be ridiculously expensive! but i did manage to get a number of presents for people! no you can't see them ;) , but just know they're super cute and super awesome!!

so after about 12 hours of walking/shopping we were beat ...crazy i know! but there were 8 of us that had to stick together at all times... tin-man's rules... plus, we don't really have cell phone access as easily. i don't even remember being in too many shops though. i mainly remember going up and down multiple escalators and spending time up in Happy 100. yes, we rode the ferris wheel :)

the ferris wheel was HUGE. it traveled pretty slowly too... took about 15 minutes to make a full rotation, but the view was wonderful! we also discovered another fun activity... running in the water inside a huge ball of air. jajaja!! it was the funniest looking thing! it was clearly an activity for children, but we didn't really care. if i didn't have a dang dress on i would have done it too, but arissa did it and looked hilarious! the taiwanese guys running the 'ride' must have thought we were just crazy americans, but it was definitely one of the funniest things i saw that day.

when we finally got back it was a little before 11. i was pooped. didn't even take a shower that night, and in the morning it was the first time that i woke up by my alarm ...and still felt tired. good sign that my body is adjusting, but since we had to get up and go to our opening ceremony it was not the best of timing.

so monday was our first day of class too! pottery! super fun ...we weren't that great at it tho. super slow. but more about that later this week. i'll post what we do for the first week on friday or something. i don't need to be posting every day ;) so get excited!! there's gonna be a lot to tell :)